California police have taken six computers and other items from the house of Jason Chen, the editor of the gadget blog Gizmodo who appeared on a video on the site showing off a lost Apple iPhone prototype which, it transpired, had been bought from a middleman for about $5,000.

Uh. What are you doing, Steve Jobs? I think you’re messing with the wrong crowd.

OK, here’s more from the AP report:

The warrant, issued by a Superior Court judge in San Mateo County, said the computers and other devices may have been used to commit a felony. Steve Wagstaffe, spokesman for the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office, confirmed the warrant’s authenticity.

Members of the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team took several computers, hard drives, digital cameras, cell phones and other gadgets, plus Chen’s American Express bill and copies of his checks.

Gee, I wonder who prodded the authorities to go after Chen. It couldn’t be Apple, could it?

After all, it was an Apple employee who lost an iPhone 4G – disguised as a 3GS – at a California bar two weeks ago. And it was Apple who eventually claimed the device, after Gizmodo wrote all about it, and asked for it back. (The technology site obliged.)

Hey, Steve, there’s a shield law for journalists in California. Such laws protect journalists from being subpoenaed for sources or having to turn unpublished information over to the authorities.

Courtesy of Gizmodo

Gizmodo apparently paid $5,000 to get its hands on next iPhone, which somebody found at a California bar. Click to view more photos at Gizmodo
• Read a summary of the whole affair at Gizmodo

Journalists – especially Internet bloggers – are probably the last people you want to piss off, Steve. They have the megaphone, whether you like it or not. And getting the authorities to raid – perhaps illegally – a journalist’s home is the last thing you’d want to do.

Yes, the question here is the $5,000 purchase of the found device. The police seem to think that might be illegal – i.e., the purchase of stolen goods. But was the iPhone 4G really stolen?

Another question is whether California’s shield law would actually cover Chen, whom some may not consider to be a journalist as defined by law. What’s the line – if there even is one – between a journalist and a blogger? Maybe a journalist just gets paid to do it?

The AP said the district attorney’s office is examining that issue. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling declined to comment for the AP.

Gaby Darbyshire, Gawker’s chief operating officer, said in a letter that the search warrant was invalid, ABC News reported.

“Under both state and federal law, a search warrant may not be validly issued to confiscate the property of a journalist,” she wrote, according to ABC. “In these circumstances, we expect the immediate return of the materials that you confiscated from Mr. Chen.”